Bush gave way to President Bill Clinton, a Democrat who pledged that the “era of big government is over.”95 Indeed, Clinton, despite his vast differences with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich—author of the “Contract with America,” which pushed everything from welfare reform to anti-crime measures to a cut in the capital gains tax—worked to balance the budget and end deficit spending. Free trade, which had already begun to work its magic during the Reagan administration, gained more ground with the creation of the World Trade Organization. Eastern European countries, freed from the heavy hand
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